This blog continues the discussion that we began with Epic Journey: The 2008 Elections and American Politics (Rowman and Littlefield, 2009).The latest book in this series is Defying the Odds: the 2016 Elections and American Politics.

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Defying the Odds

New book about the 2016 election.

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Other Candidates in the Business/Establishment Wing

Jeb Bush on Tuesday delivered a powerful message about two of the most vital ingredients in a presidential campaign, money and ideas, transforming himself from a figure who once seemed paralyzed by ambivalence over a White House run into the most forceful presence within the emerging Republican field.

With the flip of a Facebook switch, Mr. Bush, the former governor of Florida, disclosed the formation of a full-time political apparatus that can begin raising money with an eye toward 2016 and laid out a campaign rationale that was striking for its emphasis on big, knotty, bipartisan concepts like immigration overhaul and income inequality.

Mr. Bush, 61, a figure indelibly linked to the Republican Party’s past, seems determined to offer himself as an intellectual midwife of its future — a break from the party’s struggle to win over minority voters and the kind of ideological infighting, on display Tuesday when conservatives tried to oust Speaker John A. Boehner, that Mr. Bush could face in primaries.

“We will not cede an inch of territory — no issues, no demographic groups, no voters,” he wrote in a statement on the website of his new organization, called Right to Rise. To emphasize the point, and showcase his social media savvy, Mr. Bush appeared on a cellphone video Tuesday speaking both English and Spanish.

Gov. Chris Christie, a potential presidential contender, was interrogated recently by federal investigators probing the 2013 lane-closure scandal that has threatened his political future, officials confirmed to ABC News.

Christie met with federal prosecutors and FBI agents last month during a secret session at theNew Jersey governor’s mansion in Princeton. He agreed to sit down with investigators voluntarily after they offered him a chance to provide his side of the story. Interviewing Christie was one of the final steps in the investigation, which appears to be wrapping up, according to those briefed on it.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will launch a new political organization in the coming weeks and has tapped a national political strategist to serve as his campaign manager should he decide to run for president, multiple GOP sources told CNN.

Walker, who was sworn in to a second term in Madison this week, quietly brought on Rick Wiley, a former Republican National Committee political director and veteran of multiple presidential campaigns, about a month ago to build a political operation in advance of the 2016 race, the sources said.

Carly Fiorina said she's still exploring whether or not she will run for president -- and even Mitt Romney wouldn't stand in her way.

The former Hewlett-Packard CEO said she will make a decision on whether or not she wants to run in March or April. Fiorina was co-chair of Mitt Romney's California campaign, but she is vowing no allegiances. Romney told donors in New York Friday that he is considering a 2016 bid.

When asked if Romney would have any bearing on whether or not she decides to run for president, Fiorina responded, "no."